From late 1941 through 1942, Japan overran much of the Pacific, including Burma. In March 1943, British Gen. Orde Wingate and his famed long-range penetration unit, the "Chindits," cut through the Burmese jungle, skirmishing with Japanese troops, destroying bridges, and cutting rail lines. Their advance and success shocked the Japanese, who had been conquering East Asia at an unstoppable pace. The Chindits' success, however, came at a price: they lost one-third of their three thousand men during the two-month-long mission. But though the Chindits were ultimately pushed back to India, their mission set the foundation for long-range penetration troops into Japanese-controlled territory. Months later, in August 1943, a call went out for three thousand American troops to volunteer for a hazardous secret mission in the Burmese jungle. Casualties were expected to be 85 percent. Despite these unfavorable odds, the required number of troops was raised, comprising men with varied military and personal backgrounds, such as Sioux and Japanese-Americans who later formed the core of the unit's elite intelligence and reconnaissance platoons. Code-named "Unit Galahad" but lacking an official designation, they were christened the "Dead End Kids" by an embedded newspaper correspondent. After Col. Charles Hunter, the unit's commander during training, was reassigned to second-in-command and replaced by Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill, other members of the press coined the more popular nickname for the unit that eventually stuck: Merrill's Marauders. After training for months in India, the Marauders made their way into Burma in February 1944 and cut their way over mountain passes and through thick jungle growth, fighting off malaria and dysentery. The Marauders continued their trek through the Burmese jungle and engaged in several skirmishes with Japanese troops on their way to their ultimate goal: capturing the vital Japanese-controlled airstrip at Myitkyina, which linked northern Burma to the rest of the country. Once the airfield was captured through a series of brilliant outflanking movements assisted by Chinese units and Kachin hill tribes, the Marauders dug in to defend it until troops from the First Chinese Army arrived. Only two hundred of the original three thousand Marauders remained in fighting condition when the support came. General Joseph Stilwell reorganized the group with reinforcements and then focused on taking the town of Myitkyina, which the Allies finally wrestled from the Japanese in August 1943. For their bravery in the harshest fighting conditions, the group received a Presidential Unit Citation, six Distinguished Service Crosses, four Legions of Merit, and forty-four Silver Stars. "Merrill's Marauders" is the story of this highly decorated unit, one of the toughest special forces units of World War II. Author bio: Award-winning historian Gavin Mortimer is one of the world's foremost experts on World War II special forces. His history of the wartime Special Air Service was praised by the BBC as "a highly authoritative but also absorbing account," and it is currently under option from GK-TV in Hollywood. He has also written "The Daring Dozen: Special Forces Legends of World War II," a study of twelve of the most influential wartime special forces soldiers from the United States, Britain, and Germany. He contributes regularly to "World War II" magazine, "MHQ" ("Military History Quarterly)," and other historical publications on both sides of the Atlantic.

Simulation in healthcare education has a long history, yet in many ways, we have been reinventing the wheel during the last 25 years. Historically, simulators have been much more than simple models, and we can still learn from aspects of simulation used hundreds of years ago. This book gives a narrative history of the development of simulators from the early 1700s to the middle of the 20th century when simulation in healthcare appeared to all but die out. It is organized around the development of simulation in different countries and includes at the end a guide to simulators in museums and private collections throughout the world. The aim is to increase understanding of simulation in the professional education of healthcare providers by exploring the historical context of simulators that were developed in the past, what they looked like, how they were used, and examples of simulator use that led to significant harm and an erosion of standards. The book is addressed to the healthcare simulation community and historians of medicine. The latter in particular will appreciate the identification and use of historic sources written in Latin, German, Italian, French, Polish and Spanish as well as English.

Fought on almost every continent, World War II confronted American GIs with the unprecedented threats to life and health posed by combat on Arctic ice floes and African deserts, in steamy jungles and remote mountain villages, in the stratosphere and the depths of the sea.

“The best book by far on the Pacific War” (The New York Times Book Review), this classic one-volume history of World War II in the Pacific draws on declassified intelligence files; British, American, and Japanese archival material; and military memoirs to provide a stunning and complete history of the conflict. This “superbly readable, insightful, gripping” (Washington Post Book World) contribution to WWII history combines impeccable research with electrifying detail and offers provocative interpretations of this brutal forty-four-month struggle. Author and historian Ronald H. Spector reassesses US and Japanese strategy and shows that the dual advance across the Pacific by MacArthur and Nimitz was more a pragmatic solution to bureaucratic, doctrinal, and public relations problems facing the Army and Navy than a strategic calculation. He also argues that Japan made its fatal error not in the Midway campaign but in abandoning its offensive strategy after that defeat and allowing itself to be drawn into a war of attrition. Spector skillfully takes us from top-secret strategy meetings in Washington, London, and Tokyo to distant beaches and remote Asian jungles with battle-weary GIs. He reveals that the US had secret plans to wage unrestricted submarine warfare against Japan months before Pearl Harbor and shows that MacArthur and his commanders ignored important intercepts of Japanese messages that would have saved thousands of lives in Papua and Leyte. Throughout, Spector contends that American decisions in the Pacific War were shaped more often by the struggles between the British and the Americans, and between the Army and the Navy, than by strategic considerations. Spector vividly recreates the major battles, little-known campaigns, and unfamiliar events leading up to the deadliest air raid ever, adding a new dimension to our understanding of the American war in the Pacific and the people and forces that determined its outcome.